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General - Why should I have a new home inspected?

In my former existence as a Realtor I always recommended that our clients get a home inspected before making the final purchase. It doesn't matter if the house is old or brand new. Many times, a client complains and says, "Why should I have a new home inspected? It has a warranty!". While that may be true that it has a warranty, it may also be true that there are some serious defects that you would not find without an inspection.

This is fully illustrated by an experience that happened with the current home that my wife and I purchased. In 2003 our home was struck by lightening and it was completely destroyed. Thank GOD that none of us was physically hurt. But we lost almost everything. We then decided to purchase a new home from a reputable builder (our previous home was not). We had the home inspected and the inspector found several issues, most of which were minor. However he noticed that the wiring that was connecting our double oven was a size normally used for normal ovens. But this house has a double oven. This means that there would be more amperage drawn than a conventional single oven. The inspector checked with the manufacturers installation manual and verified that the oven required a larger size of cable to safely handle the current draw. The implication of having an undersized wire is that it could cause a fire. We have ALREADY been there , DONE that!

Armed with this information we were able to convince the builder to replace the cable with the correct size. This was not an easy task because to accomplish this the builder had to remove most of the cabinets and a lot of Sheetrock to replace the wire.

Some of the other issues that the inspector found were:

An outlet with reverse polarity - This is another safety issue that could lead to an electric shock.

Improperly supported Purlin - Which is a structural issue that could have potentially caused major problems with the roof and associated structures down the road.

Exposed cable ends in the foundation - This is another structural issue that could lead to foundation failure.

There were several other minor cosmetic issues.

The Builder fixed all of the defects noted by the inspector. Having our home inspected was a very good investment that provided my wife and I confidence in our purchase.